Dr. Andrew Garland-Forshee is an instructor for the 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training Certification – Ayurvedic Yoga Health Program at PCC. 

As a dedicated or aspiring yoga teacher, earning a 500-hour yoga teacher certification provides you with a broad level of accreditation. Completing the 200-hour training program allows you to proceed with the 300-hour yoga teacher training program and become a 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher. You can expect to comprehend yoga's effects on the mind better as you participate in the programs. 

Ayur means life. Veda means knowledge. Together, Ayurveda is the ancient wisdom or knowledge of life that is 5,000 years old. The practice of Ayurveda includes intentionally resetting the digestive system at the junction of seasons. The reset creates health, wellness and balance. There are three body-type constitutions (Doshas) in Ayurveda. Vata is fall and winter; Pitta is summer; and Kapha is early and mid-spring. 

Many people seek a health or wellness professional when they know they need a change. While this could be asking a doctor for a particular medical treatment or procedure, many of us are looking for strategies that improve our day-to-day lifestyles, such as changing our eating habits, movement, or sleep. Lifestyle shifts benefit from not coming with the intense side effects known to accompany some medicines while improving our perceived quality of life, with outcomes like lower stress and the ability to focus on the present as significant benefits.

One of the ways that health and wellness professionals expand their horizons while also becoming teachers of strategies for lifestyle change is through learning more about the benefits of Ayurveda and Yoga. When you study how to be a yoga instructor at Portland Community College in our program that focuses on ayurvedic yoga, you learn a host of strategies for personal improvement to your eating, movement, and breathing. You also gain the perspective to share those lessons with your clients.

One of the main reasons people practice yoga is that it feels better than not practicing yoga. That may seem obvious, but as more and more people try incorporating an Ayurvedic yoga practice into their daily lives, they discover that yoga's benefits are well-documented in scientific studies. Whether you're interested in the benefits of Ayurveda more broadly or are curious about how to learn ayurvedic yoga, Portland Community College's Ayurvedic Yoga health program can provide valuable insights for a variety of healthcare practitioners,  yoga instructors, or other fitness professionals.

Learning the benefits of yoga for health can help you incorporate yoga more intentionally in your own life or recommend yoga more thoughtfully as a healthcare or fitness professional. Here are six of the benefits you might not have known before.

Updated March 18, 2022.

The average yoga class at a fitness center can bring quite many benefits. Even a one-hour intervention can help you develop flexibility, build strength, feel more relaxed, and even sleep better. However, many people who enjoy and benefit from a standard Asana-based yoga class may want to deepen their understanding, digging into the philosophies and body understandings that underpin the movements and guidance provided in a yoga class.

At Portland Community College, you can pursue a health program in Ayurvedic Yoga, which marries the ancient science of health and healing with the peace of mind and wellness that yoga can bring. If you want to learn how yoga and Ayurveda work together, this course might be right for you.

The past two years have been a time of incredible change, including reconnecting with nature and many of its attributes. For anyone who thought that they lived in isolation from mother nature, we all realized how interconnected humanity is. 

Yoga has grown to become one of the biggest sectors within sports clubs and other physical fitness services. In total, yoga is a more than $9 Billion industry. While this industry is incredibly influential, it's also a steady career for many yoga instructors, as well as a source of rewarding work that provides interpersonal connections and a feeling of making the world a better place for the people you teach.